Search engines have become a staple of our everyday lives, and, in general, they all seem pretty much the same.  You go there, type in a word, and get a list of results.  But what if your search could be different?

Now it can!  Next time you’re out searching the web, try something a little different!

New algorithms:

http://www.cuil.com/ – Sporting a new search algorithm and a cool new look, Cuil returns results in a graphically enhanced format.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/ – The first ever semantic computation search engine, Wolfram Alpha works to find the answer to all your questions.  Including “What is the meaning of life?”

Harnessing the power of the search community:

http://socialmention.com – Social Mention searches social media sources (like blogs) for your key term returning results based on what people are talking about right now!

http://www.mahalo.com/ -  Have a burning question you would like answered?  Mahalo is your answer!  Mahalo means thank you in Hawaiian, and you will be saying Mahalo once your question is answered!  Mahalo is a knowledge exchange community where you submit a question and others answer it.  Mahalo works off of the community’s collective intelligence to seek out answers.

New interface:

http://bingle.nu/ – With a heads up side-by-side display Bingle shows you results from both Bing and Google simultaneously.

http://duckduckgo.com/ – In an attempt to get you to your result faster, Duck Duck Go give you relevant information right at the top of your search result page.

http://www.kosmix.com/ -  Kosmix claims to be your “guide to the Web.”  Presenting data in a magazine like fashion, Kosmix attempts to give you a brief glimpse of what is happening on the net today.  The search results are augmented with select images from the site allowing you to preview the type of graphics you might find on a particular page.

Looking for media?

http://creativesear.ch/ -  Creative Search functions much like your typical search engine, except that it returns your results in the form of not only text, but also pictures, video, and other forms of multimedia.

http://taggalaxy.de/ – Tag Galaxy is a search engine specifically for flickr photos.  Searching scours Flicker tags and returns a concept map (fashioned after a galaxy) of results.  You can search terms together to find images with particular themes.  Or you can just check out some of the neat artwork available on Flicker.  Enter your keyword and start galaxy surfing today!

There are about as many different digital video formats on the market today as there are video cameras, and in the spirit of market competition, nothing ever seems to work well with anything else. What is a would-be video editor to do? This post provides information about the format pitfalls to avoid and recommends some reliable tools for good format conversion.

First, a bit of information about the cause of the problem.

Most high-end video recorders do not suffer from format compatibility problems because their manufacturers stick to a very small number of well-established, high quality formats that are industry standards. The problems appear when we begin working with more affordable video cameras that store video on a memory stick or internal hard drive in digital form, or when we download a video from the internet.

In order to save storage space, consumer video camera recordings and internet videos are compressed. Some video quality is lost in the process, but the videos are small enough to store and download easily–it is a trade-off. If you have seen videos that look “blocky” or blurred, this is often the result of a high compression ratio.  To edit a video that has been compressed, a special compressor/decompressor (orcodec, for short) is needed to translate the video into a format that your editing computer understands. These “codecs” are often highly specialized, developed by a specific hardware or software maker for their own products, and not for a third-party video editing application.

What you can do

When you run into a video format that isn’t working appropriately, there is really only one solution: you need to find an application that can handle the video format in question, and export it to a format that works well with the player or editor that you are using. But, we have some information that will help you out!

Here are some formats that typically work well with most video editors. If you have a video that is not cooperating, try converting to one of these:

Windows Media Video (wmv)
WMV files may look more blurry than your original video–make sure you are exporting to the highest quality wmv you can! These files generally cannot be produced or edited on Apple computers.

H.264 (m4v, mp4,3gp)
A new, high-quality video standard. H.264 is already supported by many editors; if you are editing with Windows Movie Maker, you will need to update to the very latest version (Windows Live Movie Maker)

Quicktime (mov)
Apple’s Quicktime format is a bit deceptive; it is a container for videos compressed with other codecs. Generally, though, mov files are encoded with either the Sorenson 3 codec or with H.264. When exporting to Quicktime, choose either of these encoding formats to ensure compatibility.

Tools you can use

There are many, many video converter programs out there. The process is the same for most–select the video that you wish to convert, select the output format (try to use the ones above), and press Go. If your camcorder does not come with any conversion software, try some of the ones below:

Format Factory (http://www.formatoz.com/) FREE
Accepts most formats, including non-copyrighted DVDs. Beware of converting to AVI–the codec used for this conversion is not supported in most editors. Use the formats suggested above instead for best results.

Zamar (http://www.zamzar.com/) FREE – Paid options for larger files
A web-based service for converting videos. Accepts most formats, but has a 100Mb file size limit.

Windows Media Encoder FREE
(http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/default.mspx)
Accepts older wmv formats that need to be reconverted. Accepts live video streams from connected video devices. Accepts very few mpg-format videos, freezes up on most.

Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/) FREE
Accepts FLV, mov, wmv, mp4, m4v, and some varieties of AVI. Youtube automatically converts videos to the mp4 format when you upload them to your account. You can download up to 2 converted files per day. There is a length restriction of 10 minutes per video.

TMPGenc Movie Style (http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/tms.html) $40
A professional tool capable of converting MPEG 1/2/4, QuickTime, AVI, WMV, DivX, and AVCHD.

SoThink Video converter (http://www.sothinkmedia.com/video-converter/index.htm)$71 – Free trial
Converts just about everything to just about everything else, but not for free.

Quicktime Pro (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/pro/) $30
Converts anything that opens in Quicktime Player to other formats.

In Conclusion

As the list above demonstrates, video conversion is a large and complex topic, and there is no simple one-stop solution. Our recommendations are not sponsored, and are certainly not a complete list. The converters we have mentioned are all fairly easy to use, export to useful editing formats, and are affordable (or free!).

In general, you may need to try several of these tools in order to find something that works with the specific type of videos that you are using. Best of luck!

Additional advanced resources:

http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/
http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/PapaJohn/50/Converting_MPEG-2_Files.aspx
http://www.virtualdub.org/
http://www.squared5.com/

Reference:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/faq/codec.mspx

but we are here to tell you that the world is actually flat!  Not geometrically flat, that was dis-proven way back in 1521 by  Ferdinand Magellan when he circumnavigated the earth, but virtually flat. Through economy, trade, and technology we humans have succeeded in virtually flattening our world.

Thomas Friedman was one of the first to analyse this phenomena in his book: The World is Flat.  If you have not yet had the opportunity to read this book, here is a quick summary (for more detailed summary check out wikisummaries.org).

Friedman postulates that ten key factors in our global socioeconomic development.

1. Collapse of Berlin Wall
2. Netscape
3. Work Flow Software
4. Uploading
5. Outsourcing
6. Offshoring
7. Supply-Chaining
8. Insourcing
9. In-forming
10. “The Steroids”

At first glance this list seems very economically driven, however upon closer inspection it becomes evident that all but the first bullet point are technology mediated factors.  These factors together have led to an increasing level of globalization, or flattening, of our world.  The flat world has many implications.  For example, a flat world enables global economic competition and is “leveling the playing field” in the business world. However, while the economic impact is fairly evident, but what does this mean for education?  Friedman argues that education is imperative for a students future success in a globalized world. Furthermore, he postulates that “parents and schools and cultures can and do shape people;” that through our globalization we encourage (and must enable and empower) our students, through technology, to compete in this flattened society.  We flatten our classrooms on a daily basis by extending our education beyond the classroom walls: expanding the classroom into the community (local and global) and allowing the world into the classroom.  We educate both out of and inside the box, “In living, studying and working alongside a diverse group of people, we are challenged in our own assumptions and our own knowledge. Our education is, in a way, an education without borders.”

Interested in flattening your classroom?  Here are some ideas!

• Bring an expert into your class or bring your class to an expert:  Using web conferencing individual students or whole classes can interact with discipline experts anywhere in the world (as long as there is an internet connection).
• Access online resources in your class that give students a diverse perspective.  Resources can be found in many locations, but here are some cool video resources:

• Vimeo
• YouTube
• Academic Earth
• TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

• And more!

Want more information?  Contact us at atc-ttc@wpi.edu.

Have ideas already?  Please share them below by leaving a comment!

How do you begin a project? How do share your ideas with others?
An outline?
Just start typing and see what comes out?
Lay out your references side by side and pull the main ideas from each before organizing into a general plan?
Consider concept mapping!
Concept mapping (or “graphic organizing”) is the process of diagramming concepts in a way that demonstrates their relationships.

Here are two wonderful free tools available to create concept maps and more (presentations, interactive websites):

In the world of expensive software this is often a problem.  Not to worry, Alternative To is here to help you!

Alternative To (http://alternativeto.net/) is an innovative new site which allows you to to input a software title and retrieve listings on alternatives to that product.  The suggested alternatives are ranked by site visitors so you can get at-a-glance user opinions on all the offered alternatives.

Think again!

Personal Response Systems, often referred to as Classroom Performance Systems (CPS) or just ‘clickers,’ are becoming a common educational tool used in a myriad of classes. Students are given a small wireless polling device that bears a strong resemblance to a TV remote control.  This polling device is used to submit responses to instructor deployed questions ala voting on shows like “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” or “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”  Now you may be wondering if this is all just technology hype.  Are clickers just a flashy gimmick in the classroom?  Nagy-Shadman and Desrochers sought the answer to this very question in their paper, “Student Response Technology: Empirically Grounded or Just a Gimmick?”!  

If employed correctly, clickers can be a very valuable and powerful tool to engage your students and increase their understanding of materials.  Clickers systems were developed in the early 1970s at Cornell University with the  intent of increasing faculty student communication in the classroom in an effort to gauge student comprehension in large lectures.  Since then clickers have evolved and are now used in courses of all sizes to engages students in active learning. In the active learning model, students are encouraged to be cognitively or physically (in the case of a laboratory or manipulative task) active and engaged with the learning materials.  Active learning increases student retention and understanding of materials through this engagement and the use of clickers helps us as educators to engage our students with the materials.  Sounds like a win-win situation; students are engaged and they are learning but there is one caveat:  teachers need a good way to let students know how to use the clickers correctly or else their responses will not be tabulated correctly.

While most clicker questions appear to be simple multiple choice, we are all too familiar with the challenges of writing a well designed multiple choice quiz or test and effective use of clickers relies on good questions.  Good questions, even good multiple choice questions, can engage students in the higher order thinking skills necessary to their full understanding of the materials.  Clicker questions also offer an opportunity for just in time teaching or correctiveness in the classroom.  This is one of the keys to the success of clickers.  Some studies have shown as much as a one standard deviation improvement in student achievement when students were offered immediate feedback!  In addition students self report that clickers in the classroom aid them in:

• increasing learning
• decreasing “daydreaming”
• increasing class participation
• increasing communication with the instructor as well as engagement with the class

Students also report that they enjoy the opportunity to use clickers in the classroom.  In fact the only drawback that was noted in the Nagy-Shadman and Desrochers paper was the technical issues that come along with using any teaching technology.  Students cited technical difficulties (both their own and their faculty’s) as the biggest hinderence in using this technology.  One very interesting note was that “students in this study reported that they were less likely to come to class without completing readings or assignments.”  This is a very positive side effect!

There are many ways to use clickers in the classroom!  Here are just a few suggestions: 

• Pre-testing – finding misconceptions or preconceived notions on ideas and terminology
• Think-Pair-Share:  ask students to discuss an answer with a neighbor or group before committing to a final choice
• Move from ideas to action: “What would you do if ___?”
• Opinion check: Gather data on ethical, cultural, case management issues
• Activate interest in a topic:  “What factors do you know about ___?”
• Self-assessment: “What do you think you know?” or factual reviews before exams
• Speedometer:  “How is the pacing of this information?”

Find out more:

Clickers allow instructors to ask questions and gather students’ responses during a class. Result summaries can be displayed on the projection screen and/or stored in the accompanying software for later review.  Read more about Clickers in 7 things you should know about clickers, part of the “7 Things” series published by Educause.

WPI uses the Classroom Performance System clicker by eInstruction.  WPI faculty members have two options for using clickers:

The ATC Model:  The ATC has a limited number of clicker sets (32/set) available for loan.  Make reservations early!  Typically, with this model, students sign a release form and are responsible for returning the clicker to you at the end of the term.  The ATC will charge a replacement fee for each clicker not returned.  Contact atc-ttc@wpi.edu with questions.

The Bookstore Model:  Alternatively, you can opt to have students purchase their own clickers from the WPI Bookstore.  The ATC is happy to help you facilitate this process.  Visit this site for more information on the Bookstore model:  http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/ATC/Collaboratory/HowTo/CPS/cpsbookstore.html 

To make a reservation, discuss your options, or schedule a quick “demo”, please contact the Teaching and Learning with Technology team in the ATC, atc-ttc@wpi.edu. 

 
Cited:

Nagy-Shadman, Elizabeth & Desrochers, Cynthia (2008). Student Response Technology: Empirically grounded or just a gimmick?. International Journal of Science Education, 30 (15), 2023-2066. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://www.informaworld.com/10.1080/09500690701627253

If you attended the Food for thought last week on Naked Teaching you may also be interested in a related teaching strategy called the Inverted Classroom.  In a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education (http://chronicle.com/article/Teach-Naked-Effort-Strips/47398/) Jose Bowen urged his colleagues to “teach naked,” a phrase he coined to describe class time that is technology-free and focused on discussion. While Brown does argue that that such classes are actually more engaging to students he does not offer a solid strategy for how one can go about teaching naked.  This is where the inverted classroom comes in!

The inverted classroom is not about physical inversion (no one has to stand on their heads!), but rather it is a reference to an inversion of content.  In the inverted classroom students are expected to review materials that would normally be presented in class, including the lecture, outside of class time.  This frees class time up to focus on discussion, collaborative work, and engagement with the other activities that are traditionally done outside of class.  Typically instructors using this model of teaching will record a short lecture for students to view in place of the traditional lecture.  Students are expected to view this lecture as well as review any supplemental materials before coming to class.

Students have reported an acceptance of the inverted classroom model as well as increased engagement with collaborative activities in the classroom.  Both of these are positive outcomes to the inverted classroom model!

If you are interested in further reading you may find Using the Inverted Classroom to Teach Software Engineering by Gannod el al. (2008, http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1368088.1368198) to be an interesting overview of the process of inverting a classroom.  The paper offers a detailed look at inversion in a CS classroom as well as an overview of student perceptions.

~~~

Gannod, G. C., Burge, J. E., and Helmick, M. T. 2008. Using the inverted classroom to teach software engineering. In Proceedings of the 30th international Conference on Software Engineering (Leipzig, Germany, May 10 – 18, 2008). ICSE ‘08. ACM, New York, NY, 777-786. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1368088.1368198

The ATC’s Technology for Teaching and Learning group (TTL) would like to welcome you to our new blog!  This blog will discuss timely technology trends and issues in higher education as well as here on the WPI campus.

Have a topic you would like us to focus on?  Please leave a comment!